Sapan went so far as to suggest that The Walking Dead may run for decades to come, saying that “We’ve studied the best. Some have been around 30, 40, 50 years. We have a chance for a lot of life in the franchise.”read more

AMC released the Neilsen Live+3 ratings for the mid-season return of The Walking Dead Season Seven via a press release today and reported a total of 15.9 million viewers for the episode. This is a substantial increase over the most recent season seven episodes, which averaged just over 10.5 million viewers.

Charlie Collier, president of AMC, SundanceTV and AMC Studios. stated that,“Whether you consider The Walking Dead a survivor or an empire, it is gratifying to see the show return with such a big bang, and not just in theory – ratings increases from December’s finale in an environment in which growth, when measured and reported, can feel like something of a stranger thing.”read more

The Walking Dead’s Executive Producer Gale Anne Hurd says that the level of violence was toned down after fans reacted negatively to the double skull-bashing season seven premiere. Variety reported that Hurd spoke to the press at the NAPTE Conference and made clear that decisions were made after the October 23rd premiere to move away from explicit violence.

Hurd said ““We were able to look at the feedback on the level of violence. We did tone it down for episodes we were still filming for later on in the season.” She went on to say that, “This is not a show that is torture porn,” and reitirated that “we don’t cross that line.” read more

“AMC’s mega-hit fell sharply after its seventh season premiere last month, and has declined steadily each week since to mark the steepest ratings fall in the show’s history. In fact, Sunday’s fifth episode of the season delivered the show’s lowest viewership since season 3.”

It should be noted that “the higher you rise, the farther you fall.” While fans have been gobbling up anything related to the franchise over the past few years, recent episodes have aired content that has divided the fan community. Season 7’s controversial premiere had the second highest number of viewers per episode in the show’s history; so a fall towards more typical numbers would naturally look more significant. Also, some viewers were bound to stop tuning in after its season finale cliffhanger gimmick had been resolved.read more